Wick holder loading machine



Dec. ll, 1951 E. F. PINNEY 2,578,449

WICK HOLDER LOADING MACHINE Filed sept. 1, 194e 2 sHEETs-SHEET 1 w Fo 9*- A 3mm ERNEST E' P/N/VEY Dec. 1l, 1951 E. F. PINNEY 2,578,449

WICK HOLDER LOADING MACHINE Filed sept. 1, 194e 2 slums-SHEET 2 Patented Dec. 1l, 1951 UNITED STATE Sk PAT ENT OF FICE l WICK HOLDER LOADING MACHINE Ernest F. Finney, Glen Cove, N. Y., assigner to Socony-Va'cuum Oil Company, Incorporated,

'New York, Y., a corporation of New York Application .September 1, 1948, Serial No. 47,30'il "1 Claim. (Cl. 18-27) This invention relates to vthe .art'oi candleA art, most of .the operations involved in candlev manufacture have been performed slowly and laboriously by hand. For example, in the manu` facture of candles by dipping wicks in molten Wax, a `given length of Wick, depending yon .the desired length tof .the `finished candle, is alternately dipped into and withdrawn .from a ybath of molten wax. Obviously, this operation can be., and ,has been, Yapplied,simultaneously .to a number of wicks. For this purpose, Aa devicaknown as a wickholder, has been employed. Wick holders have consisted of Wood r metal rods having a plurality of regularly-spaced slots along one edge. In practice, the wick holders have 'been loaded by aseries of steps. These steps have included vmanually measuring Va desired length .of wick, tying aknot in one end of the wick, .and individallyplacing 'each wick .in a slot ci' 'the wick .holden the slipping of the wick through the .slot

being avoided vby the knot. Manifestly., this .series` of steps has been disadvantageous vfrom the standpoint of the .time .andthe labor involved.

'In `a copending application, `Serial Number 47,299 'filed September 1, 1948, there has ,been vdescribed a wick holder which .can Aengage and hold a plurality of wicks and which can be loaded in one simple operation. This wick holder ,can be loaded mechanically `or manually.

Broadly stated, the ,present ,invention provides a method and a machineior'loading wickholder's, which comprises a conveyor for the wic'k holders of the type described in 'the aforementioned copending application, means for actuating the `wick holders to engage and hold the Wicks, and 'means to measure the lengths of the wicks.

Accordingly, it is an object of the. fpresent .inventionto provide a machine for loading wick holders. .A further object is to provide a machine adapted to measure the length of a plurality oi Wicks and load them into Awick holders, in a simple and continuous operation. An ,important object 'of -the present 4invention is to `adord s method for loading wick holders 'with wicks of desired length.

Other objects and advantages of the ,present In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of the complete wick holder loading machine;

Figure 2 is a vert-ical sectional view of a'portion of the wick holder loading machine taken along the line 'I-I of Figure 1i:

Figure 3 is a vertical view of the same portion of the Wick holder loading machine shown in Ysection in Figure 2, taken along the line 2 2 of Ythe Wick holder loading end of the machine to the wick loading end of the machine. lThe conveyor system may include a continuous belt, 0r. suitably, a pair of parallel, continuous belts or chains 2. 'The distance between the pair of parallel, continuous chains 2 is such that each chain supports an extremity of a wick holder 3. The chains `2 are guided by a plurality of Asprockets 4, or pulleys, in thek case of belts, rou tating freely about shafts which are attachedto the yframe l.

In order to move the chains 2 in the same direction and at the vsame velocity, the chains 'i2 are actuated by a pair of sprockets 5, or pulleys, in the case of belts, rigidly mounted on `a common shaft 6 rotatably attached tothe frame "I, ywhich is rotated 'by a sprocket or pulley "l actuated by a prime mover.

`For the .purpose of ensuring the motion of the 4wick vholders 3 from the wick holder loading end of the machine tward the wick loading end of the machine, the chains '2 are provided with a plurality of kpins 8 a pair of these pins 8, one on each chain, being adapted to engage the wick holders 3. The pins 8 `are juxtapositioned in pairs, one on each chain, on the chains 2 so that a plane including a wickloading edge 9 of a Wick holder 3 is substantially parallel to the plane corresponding to the wick loading end of the machine. The distance between two'p'ins 8 on each chain corresponds 'to the desired length of the wick.

The wick material is `contained in spools .or reels jl ll suitably mounted above, or on 'top of the vframe "I, The wick material is passed through a plurality of openings .Il Lin a bar l2, 'the'magto 'admit the passage of the wick material, and

4thence .overa series of guides, suitably, .a `roller l'3`havinga plurality of grooves I4., 4 one'for cach wick, located at the 'wick-'loading end `of the machine. The bar I2 having the openings Il is positioned below the level of the roller I3, so that the openings II cooperate with the grooves I4 to create a drag on the wick material as it is pulled by the wick holders.

As set forth in the copending application referred to hereinbefore, the Wick holder 3 is provided with a plurality of wick-engaging slots I5.`

along the wick-loading edge 9 thereof. The surface of these slots cooperate with the surfaces of the slots in an internal member of the wick holder to hold the Wicks in the slots. Normally,

the wick holder is in the wick-holding position.

Wick holder 3 is momentarily moved out of Wickholding position, and the slots I5 in the wick holder 3 engage the wick material. The latter will be held under slight tension by the pull of the preceding wick holder against the drag on the wick material. After the Wick holder 3 has traveled past the needle-bar cam I1, the wick material will beheld in the slots I5 of the wick holder 3. The Wick holder 3 is then carried downwardly by the chains 2. At the beginning of its downward course, the wick material is out, manually or mechanically, near the top edge of thepreceding Wick holder 3, thereby obtaining detail in Figure 4. Referring now more particularly to Figures 2 and 3, the needle-bar cam I? is rigidly mounted on the frame I at the Wickloading end of the machine and is adapted to engage and exert a force against the pin I6 of the wick holder 3, whereby during the latter stages of the motion of the wick holder 3 toward the Wick-loading end of the machine, .the internal member of the Wick holder 3 is momentarily actu ated out of wick-holding position. The needlebar cam Il may be replaced, suitably, with a fixed cam, semicircular or elliptical in shape, or it may be an eccentric cam actuated by the shaft B and synchronized with the speed of the chains 2. At this point, the slots l5 along the wick-loading edge 9 of the wick holder 3 engage the wick material. Continued motion of the wick holder 3 toward the Wick-loading end of the machine will cause the wick-holder 3 tov travel past the needlebar cam Il, thereby releasing the pin I6 with the consequent return of theinternal member of the wick holder 3 to its normal wiclvholding 4position to hold the wick material in the slots YDuring the cam-engaging operation just described, in order to prevent the wick holder 3 from moving out of lateral alignment and, more particularly, in order to maintain the wick holder v3 in position against the end-thrust created by the force exerted by the cam I7 against the pin I6, there are attached to the frame I, side guide strips I8, located just outside and at right angles to the plane of the chain 2 so that they engage the extremities-of the wick holder 3. The guide strips VI8 may be replaced in toto, or partially,

Awith free-"rotating rollers, if desired.

After the wick-holder 3 has engaged and held the wick material, it is carried downwardly by the action of the pins 8 on the chains 2 against the drag of the wick material. The wick holder 3 is maintained in a substantially horizontal position by the upward force exerted by the drag on the wick material, and it is guided in its downward course by the chains 2 cooperating with a` pair of front guides I9 and the side guides I8.

In practice, the operation of the Wick holder loading machine is as follows: With the chains 2 .in motion, a wick holder 3 is placed, manually or mechanically, across the chains 2 in contact lwith a pair of pins 8, at the wick holder loading end of the machine. As each wick holder 3 passes the needle-bar, cam I1, force is mojmentarily exerted againstthe pin I6 lon'the'lwicl: A'holder 3, whereby the'internalmember of the the preceding wick holder 3 loaded with the desired lengths of wick and ready for use in the dipping operation. The loaded Wick holder may be removed from the system manually, or it may be allowed to drop onto another conveyor system to be carried into position for dipping.

Although the present invention has been jdescribed in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications andvariations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such variations and modications are considered to be within the purview and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A machine for continuously supplying loaded candle Wick holders, which comprises multiple sources of continuous wick material; an endless conveyor for the wick holders adapted to carry said Wick holders in a plane that intersects the plane determined by said wick material in a substantially horizontal line; said wick holders having a plurality of wick-engaging slots corresponding` in number to said multiple sources of continuous wick material along one edge thereof adapted to engage and hold wick material, and being provided with means for opening and closing said slots; means on said endless conveyor adapted to engage said wiel:v holders for moving said wick holders toward the plane determined f by said wick material, and disposed to space said -wick holders along said endless conveyor so that the distance between a pair of wick holders is substantially equal to the length of a candle, and southat during the travel of said wick holders on said endless conveyor, the wick-engaging slots will substantially coincide with said substantially horizontal line; means for maintaining the Wick material under tensionas it is engaged bysaid wick-engaging slots; and cam means to aotuate the opening and closing means on said wick holders when said wick-engaging slots are substantially coinciding With said substantially horizontal line.

ERNEST F. PINNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,478,202 Moore Y Aug. 9, 1949 

